The Wall Street Journal reports, “News Corp. (@NWScorp), owner of HarperCollinsPublishers (@HarperCollins), has expressed interest to CBS Corporation about acquiring its Simon & Schuster (@simonschuster) book business, according to people familiar with the talks....They caution that a deal isn’t imminent.”
For book publishing, an industry dominated by a half-dozen big companies, consolidation is viewed in part as a way to weather the transition to digital media. Combining forces can allow publishers to gain more heft in negotiating terms with retailers, including Amazon.com Inc., industry executives say.
A combination of HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster could create the second-largest publisher in the US market. Random House and Penguin have a combined 28% to 30% of the market, while HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster together account for 18% to 20% of it, according to Albert N. Greco Institute for Publishing Research Inc.
In the following video (recorded Nov. 8), CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves discussed whether there was a price tag on Simon & Schuster:
Also see paidContent’s coverage.
HarperCollins’ Christian publishing division consists of Thomas Nelson (@ThomasNelson) and Zondervan (@zondervan); it also has the religion imprint HarperOne (@HarperOne). Simon & Schuster’s faith-based publishing imprint is Howard Books (@Howard_Books).
See our previous blogposts, “HarperCollins Forms New Christian Publishing Division,” “HarperCollins Christian Publishing Announces New Leadership Team," and "Random House, Penguin Agree to Merge.”
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